Maine Winner Nabs $1.35 Billion Mega Millions Jackpot—4th Largest Ever—And Here’s What They’ll Take Home

Topline

A person in Maine won the massive $1.35 billion Mega Millions jackpot Friday night—the fourth biggest of all time—despite the unlucky day, the Mega Millions announced Saturday morning, although the winner will see less than half of that after taxes are taken out.

Key Facts

A single ticket matched the five white balls (30, 43, 45, 46 and 61) and the mega ball (14), giving the winner—whose name has not been released—a cash prize of $724.6 million, the lottery announced.

The winner has the choice of receiving the money in an annuity that includes an immediate cash payment followed by 29 yearly installments, or as a slightly smaller one-time cash lump sum, which is by far the more popular option among lottery winners.

Nearly a quarter of the prize money is automatically withheld in federal income tax by the IRS, cutting a lump sum by nearly $174 million, to roughly $550 million.

The winner also faces a federal marginal rate up to 37%, reducing the prize to as low as $456 million, depending on the ticket holder’s taxable income, dependents and tax deductions such as charitable donations.

In addition to federal taxes, the winner also faces state taxes, which in Maine includes a 7.15% tax on prizes over $5,000, according to the Maine State Lottery—cutting the amount they take home by another $51 million, to $405 million.

Key Background

The jackpot jumped from $1.1 billion this week after no ticket matched the six numbers needed to win in the previous drawing Tuesday night, following 24 unlucky drawings beginning in October. The grand prize on Friday narrowly edged out a $1.337 billion Mega Millions jackpot last summer for the fourth spot on the list of biggest of all time, but falls short of the $2.04 billion Powerball won last November by a single winner in California—the biggest ever. Friday’s jackpot was also the second biggest Mega Millions jackpot of all time. The biggest came in October, 2018, when a single ticket in South Carolina matched the six numbers for a $1.537 billion jackpot.

Big Number

More than 7 million. That’s how many tickets won smaller Mega Millions prizes Friday night, the lottery announced. Fourteen of them matched all five white balls but not the gold ball, giving ticket holders a second-place $1 million prize. Another 164 matched four of the white balls plus the gold ball, enough for $10,000, or $20,000 if the winners opted for the lottery multiplier, a $1 add-on to their purchase. The next drawing is on Tuesday, with a jackpot of $20 million.

Surprising Fact

The winner faced astounding 1 in 302.6 million odds of winning the Mega Millions—worse odds than being struck by lightning in any given year (1 in a million), according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Further Reading

Mega Millions Jackpot Reaches $1.1 Billion—Fifth-Biggest Jackpot Ever—Here’s What The Winner Would Receive After Taxes (Forbes)

Unlucky For Some: Mega Millions Jackpot Swells To $1.35 Billion For Friday 13th Draw—Here’s The Tax Bill If You Win (Forbes)

Maine gets 1st Mega Millions jackpot with $1.35 billion grand prize (Portland Press Herald)